Nantucket Lightship - Part IV Aftermath

Unfortunately, there were NO winners in this sad commentary on the story of the Nantucket Lightship except the media that got a really good, juicy story. The divers spent 6 years of their lives and tens of thousands of dollars finding the wreck site, diving to the wreck and recovering items from the ship. They misunderstood their support and alliance with the United States Coast Guard Lightship Sailors Association (LSA) and felt that they were doing a huge service to the surviving families of the Lightship crew. Under threat of legal prosecution, these wonderful divers were called thieves, scavengers and grave-robbers by the global media and diving circles alike. The prestigious name of the Boston Sea Rovers was tarnished and will have to re-address the criteria for any new expeditions that they support. Additionally, the Sea Rovers had made many plans to publicly-display the items in various museums, in order to tell the true and complete history of Nantucket Lightship 117, which have been scrapped. These items have been turned over to the Coast Guard and a totally unknown future. Poor Doug Bingham, with all his wonderful thoughts, ideas and energies, was unceremoniously removed from his LSA office and officially banished from the organization. I can only speculate to the politics within the LSA organization that would initially tout the recovery of these items and then totally wash their hands of their representative, Mr. Bingham; and the divers that risked their lives for something that was believed to be a very good thing for their organization, surviving families and the public. It was through the pursuit of the LSA organization that the federal prosecutors were brought in to pursue legal actions against the divers. With such an inconsistent and vacillating attitude towards the discovery, exploration and recovery of items from the Lightship, the management of the LSA organization should be brought into question and be held accountable for this messy affair. A great news article was recently printed that gives complete vindication to the divers involved. This article can be found at : http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/newjersey/032905DIVER.cfm . If you have followed this series of weblogs on the Nantucket Lightship, then it is imperative that you read this article. Shipwreck divers are a rare breed of deep technical divers that visit these ships for exploration. They are not salvage divers! A large amount of the most recent significant historic shipwreck explorations are performed by this group of divers. The divers for the Boston Sea Rovers had their characters and their lives negatively impacted. They are to be commended, rather than vilified for their efforts on behalf of a great and noble cause!